Who is Rev. Jim Wallis?

[wvpeach]

Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Jesus was a commie, folks.

Making people miserable through communism isnt love.

True.

STill look at this life and tell me he was anything else.

He lived collectively with his apostles and followers and preached to the people about how one must love thy neighbor, give to the poor., and eshew materialism

He was in every sense of the word, a communist.

Not a Marxist, or Maoist, not a Trotskyite, but an authentic primative communist.

Your apparently ascribing some dark sinister meaning to the word communist. You should try a dictionary some time . Nothing sinister about the word communist. Just as there is nothing sinister about the word right winger. The problem is in how people act , pure and simple. People cause problems and do evil. Just as guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people. Chinese Communists seem to be our best friends now. We sure owe them lots of money . And it's a good bet that 90% of the stuff in your house and the clothes you're wearing on your body came from a communist nation in Asia.
So perhaps you should rethink you're irrational words.


Anyhoo. No such word as communist is in the bible.
True though that Christ taught a complete sharing of everything. In fact he taught that those that follow him would not consider possessions their own but would share with anyone in need. The early church lived in such a way as do the Amish today. Along with many small sects of true followers of Christ around the world.

A bible verse you might find interesting.

Acts 4:32-37 32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.


Your correct editec one of the central theme's of Christ's teaching is that possessions mean nothing. People mean everything.

 

[xsited1]

Not true xsited.

People of real faith, of which I can humbly call myself part of their ranks understand that if we are going to pay taxes anyway one should never oppose the money being spent in ways that Christ would approve of.

...

Which is why many Christians don't trust the government with their money. Do you realize that your money was used to attack Iraq and kill tens of thousands of innocent people? I don't believe Christ would approve of that.

Mark 12:14 Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
16They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.


Amazed at Christ, because it was the fondest hope of the Jewish people of that time that Christ had come to over throw the Roman government and stop the high taxes they complained about at the time.

xsited1 quote:Which is why many Christians don't trust the government with their money. Do you realize that your money was used to attack Iraq and kill tens of thousands of innocent people? I don't believe Christ would approve of that.

Sounds exactly like the Jewish people of Christ's time.
Why should we give the government our taxes they asked?
Christ was clear, the bible is clear on the topic .
The world will be ruled by men who are servants of Satan's until Christ's second coming.
Our jobs as servants of Christ is not to try to rule the world, a country, a town or even our neighborhood. Our job is to take the message of Christ into a world growing ever darker with sin. Our job is to shine the light and love of Christ through our own actions into a world becoming less humane all the time.

xsited,

Just as in Christs day we will always pay taxes.
I agree followers of Christ should be advocating that our tax monies not be used to drop bombs on innocent men , women and children 1/2 a world away.
Followers of Christ should also be advocating since we pay taxes anyway, in a system where we supposedly get to lobby as to how they are spent; followers of Christ advocate that our tax dollars go to help the sick, the elderly , the fatherless , those who are the neediest among us.

We also advocate against needless wars.

When you hear a person advocating that paying taxes is against the bible , you know existed you have ran into a person that has no clue what Christ actually taught.

Christ taught us to as much as possible to obey the authorities because the bible says none rule except that God allows it and puts them in that position. Doesn't mean they are good decent people we would think of as followers of Christ. Means they are there in that position for the purposes of God. What they do can be both good and evil. All of it fits into God's hands and plans.

It is not for the followers of Christ to deny the needy at any time. Be it personal money or tax money. Our main purpose is to reach the needy and any God call's to Christ. You certainly cannot do that if you begrudge tax dollars going to help the sick, fatherless and elderly.

There are many different interpretations of the verses you post. When Jesus said "Render unto Caesar...", one interpretation is that spiritual authority should maintain its independence from earthly authority. And when Jesus said this, hostile questioners were trying to trap Jesus so that he would be arrested. His answer was to give to Caeser what is his. Does that mean you MUST pay taxes? Not necessarily. Remember one of the charges against Jesus was that He opposed the payment of taxes to Caesar, but for Jesus to remain innocent he couldn't go against Rome.

Jesus likened tax collectors to Prostitutes, so obviously they needed to be saved. Furthermore, Jesus did not want us to covet currencies that are imposed on us by the rich and powerful. Paul was just repeating what he though Jesus meant, but again there is ambiguity. Therefore, you cannot say with authority: "When you hear a person advocating that paying taxes is against the bible, you know existed you have ran into a person that has no clue what Christ actually taught." You are taking your own interpretation of what Jesus said and using it to judge others.

Remember the American Revolution? "Adopting the policy that the colonies should pay an increased proportion of the costs associated with keeping them in the Empire, Britain imposed a series of taxes followed by other laws intended to demonstrate British authority that proved extremely unpopular." Using your interpretation, these revolutionaries were obviously Godless men who went directly against what Jesus commanded. I don't believe that.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

...

Now comes MY question. Considering this guy is the most Christian guy I have heard in 40 years, I'm talking the kind of Christian that actually talks about doing good and what's right, what do other evangelicals think about him? Is he on the "fringe" of the religious "elite"? With this kind of message, he must be hated on the right.
Is that the case? This is a serious question.

Many Christians believe that way. The first Christian church was like a socialist commune after all. However, other Christians believe that the Government shouldn't be used as a middle man. In other words, why send your money to the government to let them decide where it's needed? People like Rev. Jim Wallis essentially want the government to act as the head of the Christian church and provide for all people. Most conservative-leaning Christians would rather trust themselves or their church to provide for the less fortunate.

Taa daa !
I dont think Christian want their tax dollars going to fund abortion, even though it already is.

Obama Overturns 'Mexico City Policy' Implemented by Reagan - ABC News

 

[wvpeach]

You can nitpick as you please valerie .

The new Testament teachings of Christ are pretty clear and short really.
Even a slow reader can get through the NT in a month.
Christ's teachings are clear. We are to obey those in authority above us as far as they do not try to make us personally break God's will for us.
Money is not something Christ taught should be valued as important as all.
People are what counted in all of Christ's teachings.

Christ paid taxes- should be good enough for any of his followers.

During Christs time on the earth the government that ruled his people was corrupt and perpetrated much evil on the people. Sexual sin abounded. Abortions, murders, crooked tax collectors, greed, all common when Christ walked the earth ...................just as they are today.

Nothing has changed.

In fact for the time being we may be a bit better.
Nobody gets strung up for speaking badly about the emperor here in the US at least.

But really nothing much has changed. The government still rules the people , always will according to the bible. Because God told the Israelites when he put a KING, ( judge ) over them that such would rule all the time of men from there forward and would always be a yoke upon the necks of the people. A real burden to bear.
Until the second coming of Christ nothing will change. Except the bible says sin will get worse and worse until people don't even care about their own families.
In the meantime we pay taxes. And true followers of Christ given the choice speak out that tax money should be used to care for the fatherless, sick and elderly.